Advances in biotechnology have enabled the generation of plants that express recombinant proteins. Plants can be engineered to produce a variety of polypeptides with desirable qualities. Such polypeptides include enzymes that produce secondary metabolites, proteins with medicinal or pharmaceutical properties, and proteins that endow the plants with new traits (e.g., resistance to diseases and environmental conditions).
Given the vulnerability of agricultural crops to damage by insects, other pests, and pathogens, there is a need to provide additional protective means and agents. Traditional breeding techniques have identified plant lines with Mendelian traits endowing resistance to pests and pathogens. Modem molecular biology techniques can now be applied to isolate the critical nucleic acids and proteins with these traits in order to enhance the resistance of plants to pests and pathogens.